Adjustable connection unit



March ,1 v. R. P. SAXE 7 3,025,936

ADJUSTABLE CONNECTION UNIT Filed March 13, 1959 N 1 A I 5 INVENTOR.

\\ n VAN Rausssmea RSAAE II Y T Q 'L D Unite States atet 3,025,936 ADJUSTABLE CONNECTION UNIT Van Rensselaer P. Saxe, 1701 St. Paul St., Baltimore, Md. Filed Mar. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 799,349 2 Claims. (Cl. 189--36) This invention relates to an adjustable connection unit for use in the erection of structural steel beams.

The connection unit is an improvement on the adjustable unit disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,624,429, issued January 6, 1953 and has for its object to provide a unit having a yoke fixedly secured to a steel beam adapted to receive the depending flange of an angle bracket adjustably mounted on another beam for adjustment in various directions to permit proper alignment of the angle bracket with the yoke thus permitting the connection of beams which due to tolerances allowed in fabrication are not properly alined.

A further object of the invention resides in providing an adjustable mounting for the angle bracket which may be easily assembled and which allows the bracket to be readily adjusted laterally, diagonally and longitudinally of the beam to properly position the depending flange of the bracket for seating engagement with the yoke carried by an adjoining beam.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing my improved connection unit applied to a pair of beams,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the angle bracket with the parts in disassembled relation, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of angle bracket.

Referring to the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration, the preferred forms of the invention are shown, the numeral 5 denotes a flange of an angle bracket A adjustably mounted on the face of a beam 6 adjacent its end having a depending flange 7 adapted to extend through a yoke 8 fixedly mounted on the face of a beam for first structural member 9 disposed at right angles to the beam or second structural member 6. The tongue 7 and yoke 8 are of the same construction as the tongue and U-shaped bar disclosed in my prior application Serial No. 475,097, filed December 14, 1954 now abandoned, and of which applicants pending application Serial No. 852,903, filed November 12, 1959, is a continuation. The angle bracket and yoke are applied to the steel beams when fabricating the beams at the mill and since certain tolerances are allowed in fabrication of steel beams it has been found that when erecting the beams in the field the angle brackets and connecting yokes are not always in alignment to permit proper seating of the tongues in the yokes.

in my prior patent, above referred to, the angle bracket is mounted on the beam to permit adjustment of the bracket longitudinally of the beam, whereas in the present invention the bracket is mounted to permit lateral, diagonal and longitudinal adjustment. The bracket A is provided with a longitudinally extending rectangular shaped opening 9' therethrough having the inner faces of its front and rear end walls 10 of convex shape in cross section. Slidably fitted within the opening 9 is a firs-t rectangular frame 11 of less width then the width of said opening, the ends of said frame having their outer faces 12 of concave shape to slidably receive the convex walls ice of the opening. The frame 11 is divided transversely, as at 13, forming two U-shaped sections including arms and a connecting bight portion and which after assembly within the opening 9 the tips of the arms engage and are joined together by a penetration butt Weld 14 which permanently secures the sections together. The inner side walls 15 of the frame 11 are convex shape in cross section for engagement with the concave outer faces 16 of the sides of a second rectangular frame 17, which like the frame 11 is formed of two U-shape sections 18 joined together by a penetration butt weld 19 after assembly. The frame 17 is of less length than the opening in the frame 11 to permit sliding adjustment of the frame 11 in a direction at right angles to the sliding movement of the flange 5 on the frame 11. When applying the bracket A to the face of the beam 6, the second frame 17 is permanently secured to the beam by a plug weld 20 within the opening of the frame.

A modified form of the bracket is shown in FIG. 6 wherein the frame 11' is formed of a single piece of drop forging and the opening 9' of the flange 5 has its front end wall 21 formed of a separate bar which is welded in place after the frame 11' has been fitted in the opening of the bracket.

In use, the angle bracket and yoke forming the connection unit are applied to the steel beams when the beams are fabricated at the mill. When the beams are employed in the erection of a structure, the depending flange of an angle bracket attached to a beam is engaged with the yoke attached to an adjoining beam thus forming a connection between the beams. If due to allowable tolerances in the fabrication of the beams the flange of a bracket is not in alignment with the yoke, the bracket may be readily adjusted either in a direction transversely or longitudinally of the beam or both. The bracket A being slidably mounted on the frame 11 may be moved longitudinally of the beam and since the frame 11 is slidably mounted on the frame 17 to move transversely of the beam, the bracket may also be moved transversely as well as longitudinally of the beam to position the flange of the bracket in proper alignment with the yoke. Thus, it is seen the bracket A can be readily adjusted in various directions to provide for the proper alignment of the bracket with the yoke.

It is to be understood the forms of the invention herein shown and described are preferred examples of the same and certain changes in the shape, size and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A connection unit comprising an angle bracket including a tongue and a flange rigid with said tongue, said flange having a central rectangular opening, the inner faces of whose opposite front and rear walls are of convex formation, a first rectangular frame lying in the planes defined by the opposite faces of the flange and consisting of substantially U-shaped elements having the outer faces of the transverse bight portions concave to fit over the mating convex inner faces of said front and rear walls, the inner faces of the arms of said elements being convex and the juxtaposed ends of the arms of said elements connected in co-planar relation, whereby, when said U-shaped elements are assembled in the plane of the body of the flange they will provide a rectangle of less width than the width of the opening in said flange thereby to slide in the opening transversely of the flange, and a second rectangular frame lying wholly within the planes defined by the upper and lower faces of the flange and including substantially U-shaped members disposed at right angles to the U-shaped elements of the first frame and having the outer faces of their bight portions of concave formation to fit over the convex inner faces of the first frame, and also having the ends of their arms connected in co-planer relation, said second frame being of less length than the distance between the inner faces of the bight portions of the U-shaped elements of the first frame and having a space defining a central weldreceiving opening, whereby, the flange may be shifted laterally, diagonally and longitudinally relative to said second frame.

2. A connection unit according to claim 1, wherein 10 ,6 9

the first frame is of integral construction-and the opening in the flange is formed at the end opposite the tongue by a removable end wall for receiving the nested and slidably interfitting first and second frames.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Winslow May 10, 1910 Saxe Jan. 6, 1953 

